The President, during a Saturday night cable news binge, bungled a quote from a Fox News host about Rep. Adam Schiff's rebuttal to the contentious Republican intelligence memo by cutting out several words in his original statement.

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"Congressman Schiff omitted and distorted key facts," Trump said, attributing the statement to Fox News. His tweet suggested that the intelligence panel's top Democrat skewed the memo he released hours earlier.

"So, what else is new. He is a total phony," Trump quipped shortly after a segment with anchor Molly Line and Jeff Mason, Reuters' White House correspondent, aired.

What he actually heard was Line saying, "Congressman Adam Schiff, he argues the Republican memo omitted and distorted key facts" in an attempt to mislead the public.

The redacted 10-page document, aimed at countering a similar memo from the House Republicans, was released over the weekend after Trump's White House initially blocked its publishing.

The latest memo disputed claims the FBI obtained surveillance warrants based completely on intelligence from the Russian dossier, compiled by British spy Christopher Steele and funded by Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee.

The FBI, Schiff's memo contends, "made only narrow use of Steele's sources."

Trump dismissed the memo as "a nothing" while continuing his rant against the California lawmaker during a breathless interview on the conservative network's "Justice with Judge Jeanine Pirro."

He then accused Schiff of leaking classified documents to members of the press.

"He's a bad guy," Trump said.

Schiff took to Twitter to challenge Trump's name-calling.

"Wait a minute, Mr. President," Schiff retorted. "Am I a phony, or sleazy, a monster or little? Surely you know the key to a good playground nickname is consistency. I thought you were supposed to be good at this."

The rest of Trump's Fox News interview touched on a whirlwind of familiar topics. He repeatedly denied his presidential campaign colluded with Russia to sway the 2016 election and derided Clinton as a lousy opponent.

"I don't want to sound braggadocious," Trump said. "I was a far better candidate. She was not a good candidate. She went to the wrong states."

Pirro, when Trump wasn't talking over her during a nearly half-hour interview, claimed the President's popularity was "soaring." She was citing a survey of attendees at CPAC, the right-wing lovefest that ended Saturday in Maryland, which gave him a 93% approval rating.